17. Conclusion

The Alienware Area-51 m9750 and Eurocom M570RU Divine-X provided similar performance value, with the more expensive Alienware system providing an overall performance gain almost equal to its price premium. The Area-51 m9750 is easily the better value for people who only want to game and can afford its higher price, while the M570RU Divine-X is the better value for general purpose users who can live with a little less gaming power.

One thing we didn’t graph was battery life, as the Alienware was tested using Mobile Mark’s DVD playback, while the Eurocom was tested using a DVD playback test developed internally. The difference between these tests could be as much as a few percent, but both systems will apparently play a DVD for just under 1.5 hours using the battery. The Alienware system’s larger battery is able to keep it going this long because the cards are both in power-saving 2D mode. Neither system is suited to playing 3D games from battery power unless the buyer wants to measure game time in minutes.

Portability is usually a concern left to buyers of smaller notebooks, as desktop-replacement versions are designed only to be lugged from one desk to another. Yet these two models aren’t so bad by desktop replacement standards: the Alienware Area-51 m9750 weighs just half a pound more than the Eurocom M570RU Divine-X’s 9 lbs. Add a 2 lb AC adapter to each unit, and you’re still looking at game machines that can be fairly easily carried in a backpack, if not a notebook bag. Hauling the works out of a bag might not be something the average user would like to do between jaunts, but taking one of these from office to office or from a parking lot into a LAN event isn’t so bad. These notebooks beat even the smallest desktops in that regard.

Which would we recommend? Both the Alienware Area-51 m9750 and the Eurocom M570RU Divine-X provide equal bang-for-the-buck, so let your budget be your guide.

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